December 8, 2011

Will you (A) be in Times Square crossing your legs and wishing you didn’t finish the rum and coke you hastily poured into your Nalgene bottle on your way out the door? (B) At an overpacked club in the Meatpacking District sporting your way through the crowd to take advantage of the “open bar”? (C) Toasting with friends over some ooh-worthy plates at a top-tier restaurant. If you answered C, then read on.

New York is rife with places to park your fancy pants to ring in the New Year. Every restaurant, and its mother, boasts a special prix-fixe menu, with multiple seatings. Whether you’re looking to toast with bubbly or sake at Takashi, there’s a place for everyone to throw down their resolutions.

If ballgowns and tuxedos are your idea of appropriate party-wear, then Midtown’s Russian Tea Room is where you should reserve for the evening. Their fabulous fete will be split into two seatings, the second featuring a private violin concert, and both will include luxury ingredients such as foie gras and oysters.

Top Chef fans have two chances to enjoy chef Harold Dieterle’s food on the 31st. Greenwich Village’s Kin Shop and Perilla will each be throwing raucous parties with every course guaranteed to outshine the last.

But if you dream of wearing your party hat at a chichi French restaurant, then Adour Alain Ducasse in Midtown’s St. Regis Hotel is the venue for you. Chef Didier Elena will be behind the stove, serving both a four-course early bird ($135) and six-course menu that will take you through midnight ($500 per person). While the later meal will afford you champagne and extra courses, the first seating will get you home in time to watch Dick Clark drop the ball … and watch the ball drop.